Holder



NOV. 22, 1949 ws 2,489,040

HOLDER Filed Feb. 14, 1946 10 l 13 11 M i i J? 17 fim/ Z? [ml MK BY M, y M

ATTORNEYS INVENTOR Patented Nov. 22, 1949 STATES HOLDER Errol R. Lawshe, Rutherford, N. 3., assignor to Becton, Dickinson & 00., Rutherford, N. 5., a. corporation of New Jersey Application February 14, 1946, Serial No. 647,545

2 Claims. IV

This; invention relates to a structurally and functionally improved holder and in its more specific: aspects aims to provide a unit of this ime fpr'application. to a hypodermic syringe to maintain the; parts of the latter against accidentalv displacement.

It is a well appreciated fact that considerable difficulty has been, exp erienced'inconnection with glass hypodermic syringes; involving a barrel and plunger, due =to t hefact that great care has had tube-exercised: to prevent the plunger from accidentally moving with respect to the barrel.

Such;displacements-have occurred either incidentto the action of gravity, a vibration due to the normal handling of the syringe, jarring the latter, etc.

With these difficulties in mind, attachments have been provided for syringes which would serve to restrain movements. of the plunger with respect to the barrel except when a deliberate manipulation of these parts occur-red. These-attachments have been unsatisfactory for a number of reasons, among which are included the fragile nature of the attachment, the fact that the latter might exert too great or too little a restraining influence, the cost of dies required for production of the device and for various other reasons.

By means of the present invention, a holding unit is provided which may be manufactured at low cost and in large quantities; the required die being relatively simple and inexpensive.

Moreover, an improved holder is provided which will not be fragile and which may readily be applied to and removed from association with a hypodermic syringe. Additionally when in applied position, the holder will efiectively and properly increase the resistance to movement of the plunger with respect to the barrel to just the extent desired. Accordingly, difficulties will not be experienced due to accidental movements of these parts nor will sufficient resistance be encountered to render the use of the holder objectionable.

With these and other objects in mind, reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings illustrating one practical embodiment of the invention, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a holder applied to a syringe assembly;

Fig. 2 is a plan viewof such holder;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view in enlarged scale taken along the lines 3-3 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated inFig, 1;

Fig. 4 is a, View similar toFig. 3 but with the plunger of the syringe removed; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the holder deteched from the, syringe assembly. Iii-these viewsit will be-seen that the numeral lfiindicates the barrel ofthe syringe formed of glass orv similar-.material, and which barrel has adjacent itsouter end a: needle-mounting boss or extension H; Adjacent its inner end, it may he formeddvith a flange, the area of which may beadequate to provide ears: for engagement by the fingers of an operator. The barrelv lil receives a. plunger, 53, which may have a portion l4 engageable with the thumb of the operator. As is well known, the; technique of utilizing a member of, this nature, is that of retracting the plunger I3 to. draw a desired quantity of. fluid into thebarrel l6. Thereafter the needle (not shown) is caused to pierce the desired tissue and by applying pressure to the thumb piece while gripping the barrel It, the contents of the syringe are ejected through the cannula.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the holder will conveniently include a strip l5 of resilient material which is bent to extend throughoutan arc of slightly more than 180. The initial diameter of the strip will be less than the diameter of the external face of the barrel Ill. Therefore, it may readily be clipped onto such barrel and will remain in applied position thereon. As illustrated, the strip is preferably flat although it may be formed with a rib Hi which will rigidity its body. Thus a deliberate force will be necessary in either clipping the mounting member onto the barrel by forcing it laterally toward the axis of the syringe, with the ends of the strip l5 camming against the surface of the barrel, or in order to reverse the operation to dismount the holder.

Connecting portions I! extend from points preferably just short of the ends of strip !5 and are bowed or formed so that they may bridge the flange 52. As shown, the inner ends of the portions l! are preferably spaced substantially Adjacent the outer ends of these connecting portions, fingers H! are attached. The latter 3 extend in a plane preferably parallel to that in which the strip l5 extends. The outer ends of the fingers l8 may terminate in outwardly curved contacting portions l9.

Thus, as is shown in Fig. 4, the holder may readily be moved to a position at which it is mounted on the barrel of the syringe. With the plunger not in position, the contacting or outer portions I9 of the fingers will be spaced a distance less than the diameter of the plunger I3. Therefore, if a plunger is disposed in position as in Fig. 3, it will be apparent that the outer ends of the fingers will yieldingly engage the outer plunger surface to exert a frictional restraint on the latter against axial movement with respect to the barrel. The fingers will bear against the plunger at substantially diametrically opposite points and will eifectively :prevent accidental movement of the plunger with respect to the barrel. However, they will not restrain deliberate movement of these parts with respect to each other.

Thus among others, the several objects of the invention as specifically afore-noted are achieved. Obviously numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A holder to restrain movements of the plunger of a hypodermic syringe with respect to the barrel of such syringe, said holder including a mounting member to .be applied to the outer face of the syringe barrel, spaced connecting portions extending upwardly from said member, a

pair of resilient fingers each presenting an inner end mounted by one of said connecting portions, an outer plunger-contacting end also forming a part of each of said fingers, the inner ends of said fingers and adjacent parts of said connecting portions being spaced a distance greater than the diameter of the syringe plunger to which the holder is to be applied, the bodies of said fingers extending in the same direction around the circumference of the plunger, being opposed to each other and additionally extending at angles with respect to said connection portions such that the plungercontacting ends of said fingers are spaced a distance lesswith the plunger removed irom said barrel-than the diameter of that plunger, whereby solely the outer end of each finger will engage the plunger; the contacting of the plunger by the outer ends of said pair of fingers occurring solel at points spaced substantially around said plunger.

2. A holder to restrain movements of the plunger Of a hypodermic syringe with respect to the barrel of such syringe, said holder including a resilient mounting member curved to extend in excess of 180 and to be clipped to the outer face of the circular syringe barrel, resilient connecting portions extending upwardly from said memher at .points short of the ends of the latter, said connecting portions being spaced from each other substantially 180, a pair of resilient fingers each presenting an inner end mounted by one of said connecting portions, an outer plunger-contacting end also forming a part of each of said fingers, the inner ends of said fingers and adjacent parts of said connecting portions being spaced a distance greater than the diameter of the syringe plunger to which the holder is to be applied, the bodies of said fingers extending in the same direction around the circumference of the plunger, being opposed to each other and additionally extending at angles with respect to said connecting portions such that the plunger-contacting ends of said fingers are spaced a distance lesswith the plunger removed from said .barrel-than the diameter of that plunger, whereby solely the outer end of each finger will engage the plunger; the contacting of the plunger by the outer ends of said pair of fingers occurring solely at points spaced substantially 180 around said plunger.

ERROL R. LAWSHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,496,654 Crowther June 3, 1924 1,678,991 Marschalek July 31, 1928 

